The Israeli Defense Ministry has demonstrated a robot snake, capable of recording video and sound on the battlefield. The snake robot is about two meters long and covered in military camouflage. To date, few technical details of the snake have been released, but a video by Isreal's Channel 2 TV station shows a soldier controlling the robot via a laptop while it flips and rolls through rough terrain and lifts its front to see over obstacels and capture video through its head camera. The Israeli military plans to use the new robot to find people buried under collapsed buildings, to conduct reconnaisance, or to carry explosives.

What prevents our military from using force to overcome democracy and setting up a dictatorship? It seems to be taken for granted that we do not operate like a banana republic; that there are checks and balances that make the U.S. different. But, what are they? If the one with the biggest stick wins, wouldn't that be the most influential U.S. military leader? If the military marched into the White House and told Bush to get out, what could he do?